In “This Glittering World,” San Diego novelist (and mom and teacher and wife) T. Greenwood tells the story of Ben Bailey, a part-time history professor in Arizona whose life is upended by a chance discovery. She answered questions recently by e-mail.

I read on your web site that you consider “This Glittering World” to be a departure of sorts from your earlier books. How so?

With every book I write, I set out to challenge myself in one way or another. I don’t want to give anything away, but with this book, I wanted to try my hand at writing a classic tragedy, with a tragic hero as the protagonist. I had never done that before; my temptation is always to end my stories well, with hope for the main characters, with happy endings. This was also the first truly linear plot I’ve ever written. I usually bounce all over the place in time, but this novel moves persistently forward.

Where did the idea for the event that opens the book — a body found in the snow — come from? Any special significance to the snow?

I went to graduate school in Flagstaff, and my family and in-laws all live there now. A few years ago, when I was there for Christmas, my brother-in-law’s brother told me a story about his co-worker finding a young Navajo man dying in the snow in front of his house. I couldn’t let the image go. I was amazed by the lack of press that such deaths receive — and by how very common they are. I wrote the book to try to imagine what might have led up to this moment.

As for the snow, people are often surprised to hear that Flagstaff is very different from Phoenix and Tucson in terms of climate. At 7000 feet, Flagstaff is a four-season town where snow is abundant in the winter months. Beyond the obvious sensory imagery snow offers, I think there are wonderful metaphorical implications of the snow in this book. This book is about secrets, about hidden truths. And snow obscures things. Hides things.

Justice is an elusive thing in this book. Is that how you view it in real life?

Of course. And I think that justice not being served may be one of the greatest tragedies one can experience. Ask any victim of a crime whose perpetrator is not caught. Ask anyone who has been wronged personally or professionally. We are always, always seeking justice in our lives. We are taught to believe that justice is a human right. But justice continually eludes Ben Bailey, in so many ways. His main driving force is a desire, a need, for justice: for Ricky, for Shadi, for himself.

Navajo culture has a role in this story. Is that something you were familiar with, or did you research it for this story? Why did you decide to feature it?

I was only minimally familiar with Navajo culture from my time spent in northern Arizona. My mother was also a docent at the Museum of Northern Arizona for many years. I did quite a bit of research when I realized what a huge role the Navajo culture was going to play in this story. I decided that the victim of this crime would be Navajo, because he came from an entirely different world from Ben. He represents the unknown, the exotic. So too does his sister, Shadi. Ben is not only drawn to her because of the crime but because of his own need to escape the world in which he is trapped. The Navajo people have been continually denied justice, on the grandest scale imaginable.